Making an offer
Understanding price guides: reserve, asking, estimated and indicative price
Why these are four different numbers, what the Statement of Information must disclose, and how Victoria's underquoting rules work.
- The Statement of Information's indicative price can't be set below the agent's estimate, the seller's asking price, or a rejected written offer.
- A reserve or asking price is rarely disclosed in advance, and an auction reserve is often only fixed on the day.
- Comparable sales for underquoting purposes have defined distance and recency limits.
- Selling above the advertised guide doesn't automatically mean underquoting occurred.
- NSW uses a similar 10% price-range cap, but a seller there can opt out of price disclosure entirely — genuinely different from Victoria's compulsory Statement of Information. NSW reform legislation (expected in force late 2026) would tighten this.
NSW: a similar 10% range cap, but disclosure is optional for the seller
NSW runs a comparable but genuinely different regime. An agent must include an estimated selling price in the agency agreement, reasonably based on comparable sales and market conditions, and — if it's expressed as a range — the top can't exceed the bottom by more than 10%, the same cap Victoria uses (NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading), verified 12 Aug 2026). The real structural difference: unlike Victoria's compulsory Statement of Information, an NSW seller can instruct their agent not to disclose the estimated selling price to buyers at all — no price information in advertisements, in writing, or verbally (NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading), verified 12 Aug 2026). NSW has also passed reform legislation — the Property and Stock Agents Amendment (Underquoting and Other Agent Conduct) Bill 2026 — that would move it closer to Victoria's model, with a mandatory published price guide, comparable sales and suburb median disclosure, and penalties up to $110,000 or 3× commission. As at the NSW Government's own page, this is expected to start towards the end of 2026 but isn't in force yet — the current opt-out regime described above is what actually applies today (NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading), verified 12 Aug 2026).
Five different numbers, easily confused
A single listing can carry an estimated selling price, an indicative selling price, an asking or reserve price, a suburb median, and — after the fact — a sale or passed-in price. They answer different questions and are set by different rules; treating any one of them as "what the property is worth" is a common way buyers over- or under-anchor.
Estimated selling price
The agent's own estimate, given to the seller in the sales authority. It must be reasonable and take into account the 3 properties the agent considers most comparable (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). It sets a floor: the agent cannot advertise below it.
Indicative selling price (Statement of Information)
Every residential property an agent is engaged to sell must have a Statement of Information, whether or not the property is advertised. It must state an indicative selling price — a single figure or a range of up to 10% — details of the 3 most comparable sales (or a statement that fewer than 3 exist), and the suburb median house or unit price, no more than 6 months old (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). That indicative price cannot be lower than the agent's estimate, the seller's asking price, or a written offer the seller has already rejected (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). It must be displayed at every open for inspection, included in online advertising, given to you within 2 business days of a request, and updated whenever it changes (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026) — it's the first thing worth checking on a property you're seriously considering.
Reserve price and asking price
The lowest price a seller will actually accept is the reserve price at auction, or the asking price in a private sale. It can differ from the agent's estimate, a seller isn't required to disclose it to their agent during the campaign, and an auction reserve is usually only set on the day itself — sometimes higher than the advertised range (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). The reserve may genuinely not have been set yet, and the seller isn't required to disclose it in advance — treat any informal estimate an agent gives you as unverified, not as something to build your bidding strategy around. A Bill currently before Victorian Parliament — the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, which has passed the Legislative Assembly but not yet the Legislative Council or received Royal Assent — would require agents to disclose the seller's actual reserve price at least 7 days before an auction or fixed-date sale, proposed from 1 October 2026 if passed. Separately, the Victorian Government has announced an intention (not yet introduced as a Bill) to require publication of a property's actual sale price after settlement. Neither change is in force yet — this section describes the rules as they currently stand.
Comparable sales
To count as comparable for underquoting purposes, a property must be of similar standard or condition, and — in metro Melbourne — sold in the last 6 months within 2km, or outside metro Melbourne, sold in the last 18 months within 5km (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). The 3 comparable sales listed in a Statement of Information are a starting point, not a substitute for your own read of how genuinely similar they are to the specific property.
Advertising rules and what changes trigger an update
Agents may advertise a single price or a range of up to 10%, cannot use qualifying words like "offers above" or "from", and cannot advertise below the estimated selling price, the seller's asking price, or a rejected written offer (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). If a seller rejects a written offer specifically because it's too low, the agent must update the indicative price and any advertised price below that offer — but not if the offer was rejected for another reason, like its conditions (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Agents who breach these rules risk a penalty of more than $48,842 and forfeiting their commission (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026).
A price selling above guide isn't automatically underquoting
An advertised or estimated price is a guide only and can change while a property is on the market. A property selling for more than its advertised price doesn't necessarily mean underquoting occurred — competing buyers bidding against each other can also push the price up (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Read a wide gap as a prompt to ask questions, not as proof of a breach.
None of these numbers is a valuation
A price guide, an estimate and a suburb median are all different things from a valuation, and none of them is one. The suburb median describes a whole suburb's sales, not this specific property. A passed-in amount may include a vendor bid, so it isn't a verified market-clearing price either. If you need an actual valuation — for finance, for a serious negotiation, or because the evidence is genuinely unclear — that's a separate engagement with a certified practising valuer or buyer's advocate, not something a price guide or comparable-sales table substitutes for.
If you suspect underquoting
Preserve the evidence first — screenshot or save every version of the advertisement and Statement of Information you've seen, noting the date. Request an updated Statement if the price appears to have changed without one being issued. If you believe underquoting has actually occurred, report it directly to Consumer Affairs Victoria rather than relying on your own read of the gap between guide and sale price — that's a determination for the regulator, not something this page can make for you.
Worked example
A Statement of Information shows an indicative price of $650,000–$715,000, with 3 comparable sales between $660,000 and $700,000 and a suburb median of $680,000. The property later sells for $760,000. That gap could reflect genuine competitive bidding between several buyers — or it could be worth a question to the agent about whether the estimate and comparables were reasonable when set. Neither conclusion follows automatically from the sale price alone.
Practical checklist
Before you rely on a price guide
- Get the current Statement of Information, not just the portal listing price
- Check the date of the 3 comparable sales and how genuinely similar they are
- Note the suburb median and how old it is
- Don't ask for or rely on an informal reserve-price answer from the agent
- Save a dated copy of every version of the advertisement and Statement of Information you see
- Request an updated Statement if the price appears to have changed without one being reissued
Questions for a professional
- Do the comparable sales in this Statement of Information genuinely reflect this property?
- Has the indicative price changed since the property was first listed, and why?
Official resources
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Underquoting information for real estate agents
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers
- NSW Government: Price estimation and underquoting when selling a property
Sources and methodology
- Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 30 Jul 2026)
- Underquoting information for real estate agents — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 30 Jul 2026)
- Price estimation and underquoting when selling a property — NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading) (retrieved 12 Aug 2026)
Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.